Microbiome-Inspired Green Infrastructure: a bioscience roadmap for urban ecosystem health

Abstract

Microbiome-Inspired Green Infrastructure (MIGI) was recently proposed as an integrative system to promote healthy urban ecosystems through multidisciplinary design. Specifically, MIGI is defined as nature-centric infrastructure restored, designed, and managed to enhance health-promoting interactions between humans and environmental microbiomes while sustaining microbially mediated ecosystem functionality and resilience. MIGI also aims to stimulate a research agenda that focuses on considerations for the importance of urban environmental microbiomes.In this article, we provide details of what MIGI entails from a bioscience and biodesign perspective, highlighting the potential dual benefits for human and ecosystem health. We present ‘what is known’ about the relationship between urban microbiomes, green infrastructure, and environmental factors that may affect urban ecosystem health - taken here to mean ecosystem functionality and resilience, as well as human health. We discuss how to start operationalising the MIGI concept based on current available knowledge and present a horizon-scan of emerging and future considerations in research and practice.We conclude by highlighting challenges to implementing MIGI and propose a series of workshops to discuss multi-stakeholder needs and opportunities. This research will enable urban landscape managers to incorporate initial considerations for the microbiome in their development projects to promote human and ecosystem health. However, overcoming the challenges to operationalising MIGI will be essential to furthering its practical development. Although the research is in its infancy, there is considerable potential for MIGI to help deliver sustainable urban development driven by considerations for reciprocal relations between humans and the foundations of our ecosystems – the microorganisms.

Impact of Plant–Microbe Interactions with a Focus on Poorly Investigated Urban Ecosystems—A Review

“…The MIGI model involves the introduction of vegetal, animal, and microbial species within urban and inhabited areas to increase the benefits of the ecosystem on the human immune system. Urban parks, green roofs, rain gardens, hedges, wildlife overpasses, and community gardens represent natural reservoirs of microorganisms that produce immunoregulatory molecules and are of considerable importance in urban environments [14,133].…”

Optimising Early Childhood Educational Settings for Health Using Nature-Based Solutions: The Microbiome Aspect

“…Microbiome-Inspired Green Infrastructure (MIGI) was recently proposed as an integrative framework to enhance urban ecosystem health through multidisciplinary design [20]. Specifically, the MIGI aims to promote nature-centric infrastructure restored or designed to enhance health-supporting interactions between humans and environmental microbiota whilst sustaining microbially-mediated ecosystem functionality and resilience.…”

“…In addition, the other features we explore have pedagogical value or utility besides optimising microbiome-associated health outcomes, and some of this will be touched on in the discussion. We base our recommendations on the Microbiome-Inspired Green Infrastructure (MIGI) principles [20], which are informed by the best-available evidence in the environmental microbiomehuman health discipline. We consider some of the complexities and challenges, as well as some of the most frequently included features of early childhood education settings.…”

The sound of restored soil: using ecoacoustics to measure soil biodiversity in a temperate forest restoration context

“…Moreover, the same audio recording devices can detect anthropogenic noise (known as "anthrophony") (de Framond & Brumm 2022). Anthrophony may contribute to ecosystem degradation by adversely affecting animal fitness, health (De Jong et al 2018;Kleist et al 2018) and behavior (Tidau & Briffa 2019;Hastie et al 2021), and the composition and functionality of microbial communities (Robinson et al 2021a(Robinson et al , 2021b. Therefore, ecoacoustics could provide important measurements across the degradationrestoration continuum.…”

“…The integrity of forests depends on a rich tapestry of biodiversity (Müller 2000; Watson et al 2018), and the strength and complexity of the relationships between organisms confer resilience to forest ecosystems. Microscopic organisms or “microbiota” provide forest trees with nutrients and the ability to communicate via mycorrhizae (Simard 2018; Robinson et al 2021 a , 2021 b ), and soil meso‐ and macrofauna contribute to soil formation and energy flows (Le Bayon et al 2021).…”